


Fall Into This Sweetness

by guava



Series: Random Play Discography [7]
Category: SF9 (Band)
Genre: Ass Play, Comeplay, Dirty Talk, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, M/M, NSFW only in Chapter 1 and 3, POV Outsider, POV Second Person, Riding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:22:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24388138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guava/pseuds/guava
Summary: Saving Youngbin from a white guy hitting on him, volunteering his stomach to digest Youngbin's feast of leftovers and looking out for the younger members—those were the ways in which Inseong was there for Youngbin.(Flash fiction loosely inspired by the tracklist/era ofNarcissus.)
Relationships: Kim Inseong/Kim Youngbin
Series: Random Play Discography [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1507721
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	1. Enough

Two years after their debut, Youngbin was used to strangers recognizing who he was and what he did. What was unfamiliar to him was someone who didn't even know that he was in an idol group starting a conversation with him at a public place. 

He was sitting on a high stool at the hotel's bar and sipping some gin and tonic when the tall man with blond hair and blue eyes approached him. The man asked him some questions in English and Youngbin answered as best as he could, sharing where he was from and that he was in the foreign country for work. 

Perhaps for Europeans like the man before Youngbin, making small talk with strangers was no big deal. The European man didn't seem to mind Youngbin's rapidly declining English, switching to say something else after Youngbin failed to understand the question he had asked. 

"Your hair colour is very lovely," he said. "Cherry red...it's unusual, but it suits you." 

"Sorry?" 

Just as Youngbin wished he could summon the main English speaker in his group, there Inseong was, swooping in to save Youngbin. 

"Hi, you can ask all your questions for my friend to me," Inseong said in English. 

Youngbin looked up to find Inseong's jaw clenched tight. A jolt ran down his spine at Inseong resting his palm on the small of Youngbin's back, then casually slipping his arm around Youngbin's waist. Inseong usually didn't do flagrant skinship in public, even in countries with a more open attitude towards same sex relationships. 

Turning back to the white guy, Youngbin watched him put his hands up as if to show that he meant no harm and backed away from the bar. Whatever Inseong said to make him leave, it worked. 

Youngbin was nothing but thankful towards Inseong, yet Inseong seemed annoyed with him. Inseong took a seat on the stool beside Youngbin, swiped Youngbin's drink and downed what remained in the glass in one go. 

"Are you okay?" Youngbin asked. 

"I'm not okay," Inseong replied, pushing the empty glass away from him with the back of his hand. 

"Did I...did I do anything wrong?" 

"I heard it all. That guy...that blond guy was hitting on you, didn't you know?" Inseong's eyes flashed. "He was going to buy you another drink. And get you tipsy and drag you back to his room in this hotel." 

"Oh...well, I didn't understand most of what he was saying," Youngbin pointed out. "Did he really say the last part?" 

"Not without words, but with the way he looked at you. Like this." 

Inseong showed Youngbin. He tried coming off like a wolf about to devour Youngbin whole, but ended up looking more cute than fierce. To Youngbin, Inseong was more like a fluffy animal to share healing cuddles with. 

Thinking about Inseong's cuddles, Youngbin could practically feel the warmth of Inseong's body. He couldn't hide his happiness at remembering the times he lied next to Inseong even as he knew Inseong was going to take him the wrong way. 

"Why'd you laugh?" Inseong demanded to know. "You don't think I'm being serious, do you?" 

"No, that's not it." 

Youngbin looked down to hide his smile and knocked his empty glass back and forth across the bartop to give his hands something to do. Catching his wrist, Inseong stopped him. 

"Come on," Inseong started dragging him away, "I want you." 

All the way back to Inseong's room, the skin around where Inseong encircled Youngbin's wrist burned. The heat spread to every part of Youngbin's body, turning Youngbin sensitive all over. Once Inseong got Youngbin inside, he claimed a crushing kiss on Youngbin's lips as he pushed Youngbin up against the wood of the closed door. 

Pressing their bodies flush together, Youngbin sensed the outline of Inseong's hard-on through the barrier of Inseong's jeans. He had lost count of how many times he had touched it, tasted it and had it inside him, but he still hadn't gotten used to the reminder of his ability to turn Inseong on. 

Just as Youngbin was getting light-headed, Inseong broke their kiss to let Youngbin breathe, but not for long. He attacked Youngbin's neck with his mouth and slipped his hands under Youngbin's sweater, stroking the skin above the waistband of Youngbin's pants. 

To keep his legs steady, Youngbin looped his arms around Inseong's neck. 

"Why're you so worked up?" He asked. "You know I wouldn't go to that man's or anyone else's room." 

Inseong sucked a little harder on Youngbin's neck, pulling Youngbin's skin between his teeth. "Know why? Cause you're too innocent and still ask such questions." 

Youngbin didn't agree with that, but didn't say anything as he let Inseong manhandle him into bed. 

When they were both naked and Inseong had Youngbin writhing against the sheets with his fingers in Youngbin's hole, Youngbin wondered how Inseong could still see him as innocent. There was nothing innocent about his hard-on curving up to his stomach, aching to be touched. 

Youngbin bunched up the sheets between his fingers, stopping himself from reaching down. He had gained a taste for holding off his pleasure and to trust the man he loved to eventually give him what he needed. As Inseong withdrew his fingers from inside Youngbin, Youngbin whimpered but didn't beg Inseong to hurry up. 

Without taking his eyes off Youngbin, Inseong used his teeth to tear open a condom packet since his fingers were slippery with lube. The way he bit into the packet was more than a little animalistic and Youngbin liked awakening this rarely seen side of Inseong. He wanted to see more of it and as Inseong lined up to enter him, he raised his legs, one at a time, to hook his ankles on Inseong's broad shoulders. 

Stroking down Youngbin's calf, Inseong asked, "You want to do it like this?" 

"Yeah. You can go deeper like this." 

"Have you been thinking about me taking you like this, taking you deep and hard?" 

Youngbin had. He should tell Inseong that he thought about it more than once to shatter Inseong's belief about his 'innocence'. But he couldn't speak or think anymore with Inseong pushing into him, stretching him open and filling him up. 

The realiy of Inseong driving into him and bending him nearly in half was overwhelming. He felt the warm breaths of Inseong's pants and moans, and he wanted to melt under Inseong's heated gaze. The sweet build up of release coursed through Youngbin's body with Inseong's thrusts into Youngbin, pleasure running through Youngbin's lower half from between Youngbin's legs to his dripping cock and then up to his erect nipples. 

Slowing down his thrusts, Inseong wiped the sweat that was getting into Youngbin's eyes with the back of his hand. "Do your legs hurt? Do you need me to touch you?" 

Inseong would never forget to check how Youngbin was feeling, even if lately, Youngbin minded Inseong going wild in bed less and less. 

"I'm okay," Youngbin said, saving for later his explanation of the hidden erotic benefits of stretching diligently before their dance lessons. "How about making me come like this? With just you inside me." 

"For real?"

"Yeah...can you do that?" 

Inseong didn't need any more encouragement to take up the challenge. It wouldn't be easy to make Youngbin come without touching his cock and giving it more friction than what Youngbin could get from rubbing against Inseong's stomach. Youngbin let Inseong try, sharing what felt good as Inseong adjusted the angle of his thrusts. 

When Inseong succeeded in finding the best angle, it took Youngbin by surprise. The moan that escaped from Youngbin's lips barely faded away before Inseong drove into Youngbin's prostate again and again. Youngbin moaned and thrashed under Inseong, feeling like he was having an out of body experience until his come was spilling out of him. 

Through a curtain of bliss, Youngbin sensed Inseong setting his legs back down on the bed and pulling out. Youngbin fought the temptation to fall asleep and leave Inseong hanging and sat up to touch Inseong. 

He stroked Inseong's cock through the condom once, then peeled the condom off Inseong to dispose it in the trash can beside the bed. 

"Youngbin-ah--" 

"It'll feel better this way," Youngbin said. 

Aside for the sake of cleanliness, they didn't need the condom. Keeping clean was a lost cause anyway with come splattered all over Youngbin's chest and some of it getting onto the sheets. Youngbin didn't care about getting dirtier, wanting Inseong's cock bare and hard and wet between his thighs. 

Right before Inseong came, he looked into Youngbin's eyes and said Youngbin's name. He marked Youngbin with his semen, directing it on Youngbin's thighs and balls. A brief look of concern crossed his face as he was coming down from his high and Youngbin glimpsed his worry over doing something that Youngbin didn't like. 

To show how much he liked Inseong claiming Youngbin as his, Youngbin arched his hips to let Inseong's come drip down his hole. Inseong gave him another kiss in return with his remaining strength and got the mess on Youngbin's chest onto himself too. 

Collapsing beside Youngbin on the bed, Inseong twisted sideways to rub his lower back. 

"It hurts," he groaned. "I think I pulled a muscle to satisfy you." 

Youngbin rested his hand on Inseong's hip to massage the pain away. "How could you be this worn out with an innocent guy in your bed? Was I too much for you to handle?" 

Inseong looked at Youngbin and said, "Forget what I said about your innocent. All I can see is your self-love." 

"That's just your love for me being reflected back at you." 

Inseong tried, but failed, to hide his little smile at Youngbin saying 'love'. As Youngbin laid soft kisses over Inseong's neck and chest, Inseong's skin felt soft and warm beneath his lips. 


	2. Play Hard

Over the phone, Youngbin told Inseong that he didn't have to come down to the office building and help finish the leftovers of his mukbang, because you were there.

You sighed, shaking your head.

"What is it?" Youngbin asked.

"You've only encouraged Inseong to come over. He'd be running over before he'd let you depend on another man that's not him."

You had the same bad feeling as when you were covering with black tape the brands of the food packages before Youngbin's broadcast. You knew Youngbin wasn't going to finish everything he laid out from one end of the table to the other. Youngbin danced well and sang well, but he was no professional eater like an actual mukbang DJ.

Though Inseong wasn't one either, you'd bet that he'd die trying to become one for Youngbin's sake.

Turning to you, Youngbin said, "Hyung, you seem really experienced."

"Experienced? About what?"

"About human relationships, I mean."

You shrugged and snapped open a pair of disposable chopsticks to pick at pieces of pork that had grown cold.

Before you took a bite, Inseong burst through the office building's automatic sliding doors. He headed straight to you and Youngbin and after a short greeting, he grabbed another spare pair of chopsticks to snap up the cold pork that you were mindlessly picking at.

With a steady rhythm, Inseong chewed and swallowed. Both you and Youngbin watched him with rapt attention as he polished off one box of packaged food. Perhaps they could pin their hopes on Kim 'three hamburgers' Inseong to save them from having to get rid of a pile of food waste.

But in the middle of working through the second box of food, Inseong slowed down his chewing and swallowing, puffing up his cheeks with his mouth full of beef and rice.

You twisted a bottle of water open for him so he could wash the food down. It was your job as manager, after all, to protect the health of the company's artists. You reminded Inseong of your duties as you volunteered your stomach and picked your pair of chopsticks back up to eat with him.

Raising his chopsticks in the air, Inseong said, "Let's get it, hyung. We can work all these off with lots of cardio at the gym."

You turned to Youngbin, raising your eyebrows, and Youngbin reflected your disbelief about Inseong's plan to exercise right back at you. 

As Inseong dipped a piece of cold beef into what's left of the cheese tteokbokki, he said to Youngbin, "Wouldn't it be nice to see me with abs?"

"You mean these abs?" Youngbin put his hands on Inseong's stomach. "Where? I can't find them."

He poked around Inseong's belly, acting like he was looking for muscles but instead aiming for the spots that would make Inseong squirm.

"Hyung," he spoke over Inseong's wriggling and protests to tell you, "Take these away, please, I owe you."

He wouldn't be able to hold Inseong down for long. You worked fast, stacking and gathering the remaining food packages to whisk away and ignoring Inseong asking you to hold it.

Stepping out of the rest area with your hands full, you heard a loud cry. You took a peek and glanced behind to find the tables had turned with Inseong poking Youngbin's side and Youngbin trying to catch both of Inseong's wrists in his hands to stop him.

Just a while ago, Inseong was so close to spending the rest of his night with playing with food. Then he ended up playing with Youngbin. You walked away, thinking that Inseong hadn't wasted his trip down to the office building in the end. 


	3. Heartbeat

Wasn't meeting the in-laws supposed to be dreadful for the future son-in-law? Yet Youngbin was having fun with Inseong's mom. When she had brought out the old photo albums, Inseong joined in to coo over his cuteness as a baby, but retreated to drink too many cups of water in the kitchen to avoid watching Youngbin being shown photos of Inseong's awkward teenage years and a copy of Inseong's childish letter about escaping ski camp. 

They were leaving their dongsaengs for one night to sleep over at Inseong's family home. Inseong had to endure Youngbin seeing historical evidence of him being a little less cool and handsome than he was in the present to get to the trip's main event--sharing a bed in Inseong's room, where they'd do more than sleep. 

To prepare for their visit, Inseong's mom had changed the sheets. It more than made up for her telling Youngbin all about Inseong's old excuse notes to get out of playing sports at school events that were complete with handdrawn illustrations of Inseong vomitting, fainting and tripping over a rock. 

As Inseong snuggled against Youngbin under the warm comforter, he loaded up on his phone a video clip in which he delivered the final solution on Problematic Men. Youngbin had missed the episode and Inseong wanted to remind Youngbin that he had the brains to compensate for his lack of athletic potential. 

"Wow, let me watch that again," Youngbin said, replaying the part where Inseong showed his work on a blackboard. "Was that hard for you at all?" 

"I've had harder problems," Inseong replied. "In fact, I had a really hard problem that month. My problem was that I couldn't see you much." 

"Yeah, I wanted to see you more too," Youngbin said. 

"I couldn't touch you," Inseong continued, stroking his hand along the veins branching across Youngbin's arm. "Or kiss you...Or kiss and touch you..." 

When he put his lips to the shell of Youngbin's ear, Youngbin squirmed away. Inseong thought he was just going to turn off Inseong's phone and put it aside on the bedside table, but after doing that, Youngbin climbed off the bed. 

"Hold on, I need to brush my teeth," he said. "And...can I also take a shower?" 

"Sure..."

After Youngbin left with his bag of toiletries, Inseong sighed, buried his face into his pillow and rolled around on his bed. He used to do that a lot in this very room whenever he was in a whiny mood. He wondered why Youngbin felt the need to get extra clean when Youngbin usually wasn't fussy about getting right down to business. It'd be better if Inseong had earlier offered to help Youngbin wash up as an excuse to get his hands all over Youngbin's body. 

The thought of rubbing soap down Youngbin's back to Youngbin's butt tempted Inseong to hump his rising hard-on against his mattress. He stopped his imagination right there before it took him too far. To cool down his excitement, he lied face up towards the ceiling with both arms by his side and away from his lower half. 

He hadn't realised that he was close to drifting off until he stirred awake under the presses of Youngbin's kisses on his face and heard Youngbin saying, "Hey, don't go to sleep yet." 

"Um...I was just resting my eyes..." 

Inseong blinked a couple of times, earning a little laugh from Youngbin. 

"It's your fault for taking so long," Inseong grumbled. "Did you go to outer space to fetch me a star or what?" 

Youngbin laughed again. "Sorry for keeping you waiting. But now, we can do that thing you like to do right away." 

"Hmm? I like to do lots of things." 

"That thing you like to do...inside me..." 

Giving Inseong another hint, Youngbin grabbed Inseong hand to place it over his butt. 

Inseong became alert at once. He slipped his fingers under the waistband of Youngbin's shorts and underwear and groped Youngbin's bare ass, feeling some wetness along the divide between Youngbin's cheeks. 

"What the...this..." Inseong was at a loss for words. "Did you prepare yourself for me?" 

"Yeah," Youngbin replied, smiling as he kissed the underside of Inseong's jaw. "It's a bit difficult to do all by myself, but I think I did a thorough job." 

Inseong gave himself another preview of Youngbin's handiwork and traced his fingers down Youngbin's crack. There was hardly any resistance with the generous amount of cold, slippery lube that Youngbin had applied. Youngbin moaned at Inseong's touch, grinding his hips against Inseong and Inseong imagined him making similar delicious sounds while playing with his hole. 

Inseong couldn't believe that happened just a few doors away while he lied in bed and tried to be a good boy who wouldn't have fun alone. 

Inseong drew his hand out of Youngbin's shorts and hugged Youngbin closer to him for a kiss. Youngbin moaned against his mouth, giving him a taste of the action that he had missed, and Inseong returned Youngbin's moans with his own appreciative noises. 

Youngbin drew back to take his shirt off and say, "The lube might dry up if you don't get inside me soon." 

There was a delay in Inseong's reaction as Youngbin's tattoos became visible. Resting his hand on the inked 'Shine Forever' along Youngbin's side, Inseong said, "Mm...you want me inside you? You really want that?" 

"I want it so bad." Youngbin rocked his hips to rub their hard-ons through their clothes and added, "Or we can call it a night...and I can take another shower..." 

His teasing got Inseong struggling out of his clothes as if Inseong's shirt, briefs and pyjama bottoms had been set on fire. He caught Youngbin stifling his giggles at Inseong's desperation to have him and for that, Inseong poked at the ticklish area below the jut of Youngbin's hipbones as he tugged down Youngbin's shorts and underwear. Youngbin let out a short, high-pitched cry and pretended to fight off Inseong off, when he actually wanted to press himself skin to skin against Inseong. 

After Inseong put a condom on, he coated his length with more lube than he usually used for this part, in case the amount inside Youngbin wasn't enough. 

"Stop," Youngbin said, taking Inseong's hand to stop Inseong from touching himself. "That's for me." 

He wanted to be on top, straddling Inseong's thighs and holding on to the base of Inseong's cock to guide it into him. Even as Inseong was all the way inside, enveloped in Youngbin's heat and tightness, he couldn't shrug off his worry about hurting Youngbin.

Youngbin had his brows furrowed, his eyes closed and scrunched up and he was breathing hard through his mouth, looking like he was hovering between pain and pleasure. 

"Are you okay?" Inseong asked.

He caressed the back of Youngbin's right arm that was braced against the bed, telling Youngbin without words that it was all right for Youngbin to say that he wasn't okay. 

Youngbin oepned his eyes and said, "I'm fine. It's just...my heart is beating really fast." 

He took Inseong's hand once more to bring it to his chest. 

"It is," Inseong said, spreading his fingers and flattening his palm over where Youngbin's heart beat fast for him. 

"Inseongie..." 

With his powerful thighs, Youngbin rode Inseong in earnest. Inseong too worked hard to thrust up into Youngbin to hear Youngbin's cries. At his upward thrust, he grabbed onto Youngbin's hips to bring Youngbin down on him, going in deeper and striking the spot which made Youngbin's thighs tremble. 

He did it again and again, obsessed with seeing Youngbin crying out with his head thrown back and showing the line of his throat. Then, bringing himself down on Inseong, Youngbin tightened hard around Inseong's cock to bring Inseong to climax. 

Until every last drop of come had been wrung out of him, Youngbin stayed still with Inseong going soft inside him. It bought Inseong some time to plan out how he could make Youngbin come without dirtying the bed. When Youngbin finally let Inseong slip out of him, Inseong took both of his hands to draw him closer. 

On his knees, Youngbin moved further up the bed. Inseong tugged at his wrists, encouraging him to come even closer. 

"What are you going to do?" Youngbin asked. 

"Put it in my mouth," Inseong said. "I want to use my mouth to make you come." 

"Won't you have trouble breathing?" 

But despite his question, Youngbin trusted that Inseong knew what he was doing. Youngbin braced his hands against the wall behind the bed and traced the tip of his cock over Inseong's lips, all set for Inseong to take him into his mouth. 

Inseong was confident that when he was done, he'd be so amazing that Youngbin would dream of him in all nights instead of just some of them. Once he had laid a kiss on Youngbin's cock and wrapped his lips around it, he multi-tasked with his hands, drawing them over the sweaty skin at the back of Youngbin's thighs. 

He sucked on Youngbin, kneading his fingers into the cheeks of Youngbin's ass and waited for the perfect timing to give Youngbin an extra treat. Youngbin wouldn't expect Inseong to insert a finger into his hole, still loose from being stretched out by Inseong's girth, then add one more finger. 

As Inseong drew two fingers in and out of him, Youngbin gasped and leaked more drops of pre-come on Inseong's tongue. He seemed to be caught in a dilemna between thrusting into the warmth of Inseong's mouth or back on Inseong's fingers, unsure whether to get more stimulation from the front or from the back. 

Inseong didn't mind either way as long as Youngbin's head was filled with thoughts of him. He hummed around Youngbin's cock to match Youngbin's heated moans, keeping up his quest to conquer Youngbin's mind and body with his lips, tongue and fingers. At their 'meet the parents' and 'fingering in the other person's childhood home's bathroom' stage of their romance, it was natural for Inseong to have memorised the tell-tale signs of Youngbin's climax. All of Youngbin's come went down Inseong's throat and even without checking, Inseong knew he could congratulate himself for keeping the bed clean and cozy. 

The way Youngbin put his arm around Inseong, spooning Inseong from behind with his chest pressed against Inseong's back, spoke volumes about Youngbin's satisfaction. Inseong leaned into Youngbin's embrace and resisted asking the obvious, until he couldn't. 

"Youngbin-ah, was that good for you?" 

"It was the best. You were as wonderful as ever. Do you want to hear more?" 

"No...I just want to know...was I so good that you wondered, 'Wow, how did that unsporty kid grow up to become this wild beast'?" 

Youngbin snorted, puffing warm breath that tickled the curve of Inseong's neck. "I wouldn't even think of calling you a 'beast'." 

"Say," he continued, "do you think we'd be friends if we met as kids?" 

"Would you be friends with me if I won't play sports with you?" 

"Only if you let me copy your homework." 

Even good boys like Youngbin copied homework at least once in their lives. Inseong wondered what it'd be like to grow up with Youngbin, then grow old together and reach a point where Inseong would think the same thought that crossed his mind: that perhaps, they were meant to be. 


	4. Life Is So Beautiful

For the next five days, Jaeyoon wouldn't be coming to the office. It was the minimum number of days for resting up after a wisdom tooth surgery. But right before they turned out the lights in their shared room, Jaeyoon told Youngbin that he aimed to get back to work in three days for choreography practice.

What Youngbin wanted to hear more was Jaeyoon agreeing to rest well. Having a wisdom tooth removed wasn't a breezy experience, even if all the patient had to do was to submit themself to the dentist's capable hands. Friends who survived the procedure had shared with Youngbin the stressful beginning in which they were told the risks, including the low but present chances of permanent jaw paralysis and whatnot. Then once the consent form was signed, it was time to face the large and long needle for receiving anesthesia.

Jaeyoon had reminded Youngbin that he had donated blood before and was not scared of needles. Youngbin doubted that what Jaeyoon would go through was all that similar to donating blood and just hoped that Jaeyoon wouldn't end up traumatized.

As Youngbin went through his schedule at the office, he glanced at his wristwatch. He had forgotten the exact time when Jaeyoon's surgery would take place, only remembering that it would happen in the middle of the afternoon. At a gap between his own plans, he settled down on the couch of the rest area to call Jaeyoon's number.

"A very good afternoon, this is President Lee's secretary speaking," said someone who was not Jaeyoon.

"Inseong-ah, why are you answering Jaeyoonie's phone?" Youngbin asked.

"His surgery started twenty minutes ago. I'm holding on to his phone in case he has any important calls," Inseong explained. "Hyung was with us, and now he's buying tasty porridge for Jaeyoonie's dinner."

Youngbin imagined Inseong at the dental clinic, waiting for Jaeyoon and their manager-hyung out on his errand.

"By the way, I also had an appointment here for my teeth alignment," Inseong said. "Guess who's going to get really sexy in...about thirteen months?"

Youngbin laughed. "You didn't have to go so far to become our group's second most sexiest member. The first being me, of course."

All jokes and self-love aside, Youngbin wondered what else he could do for Jaeyoon since moral support and food were already provided for.

"Hey, he said to Inseong. "I really want to baby our Jaeyoonie tonight. He should have his mom to take care of him, but she's all the way in Busan. Can you think of anything he might need from the office?"

"Hmm, he'd probably say he needs his dumbbells...the pull-up bar...the treadmill...basically, all his favourite toys from the gym," Inseong replied, and Youngbin agreed with him.

Inseong continued, "Don't worry, I'll be Jaeyoonie's mom for today. I love our oldest baby just as much. All you have to do is to _bring home the bacon_."

"What's that? _Bacon_ , as in the food?" Youngbin wasn't familiar with the English expression that Inseong mentioned.

"Yeah. It's a metaphor for what the provider of a household brings back to the family."

For the rest of the day, Youngbin was kept busy with 'providing' for his family. Two separate reports from Inseong and his manager arrived, saying that Jaeyoon's surgery went well. The anesthesia would take three hours to wear off, followed by the painkiller.

But when Youngbin saw Jaeyoon at their dorm, Jaeyoon was moving about as usual instead of being knocked out with more painkillers or groaning in pain.

He dragged Youngbin to their drying rack and said, talking with one side of his mouth, "Hyung, notice anything?"

Youngbin studied the rack and the clothes hanging from it, noticing nothing different. Then he focused on his pair of navy shorts with white stripes circling one of the leg openings and remembered that it was supposed to be still in his laundry hamper where he had left it.

"Oh, wow, who did the laundry?" Youngbin asked, making a mental note to thank whoever had taken care to throw his unwashed clothes into the washing machine.

"Inseong-hyung," Jaeyoon revealed. "And he cleaned our room too."

To prove that happened, Jaeyoon opened the door to their room and without turning on the lights, he asked Youngbin to rub his foot over the floor to feel the absence of dust. Youngbin did so, wondering if Inseong's cleaning spree was part of his efforts to mother Jaeyoon.

Before Youngbin asked if Inseong had returned to the small dorm, Jaeyoon said, "Hyung is sleeping on my bed."

He inclined his head towards his side of the room where, in the darkness, Inseong was sleeping and would most likely stay asleep until the next morning.

Youngbin guessed the reason why Inseong had made himself comfortable there. "Is he planning to make sure that you don't accidentally roll the wrong way and sleep on the painful side?"

"Yeah, that's what he said," Jaeyoon said. "But hyung, I want to sleep in your bed. You can sleep in mine."

From his offer, Jaeyoon seemed to think that Youngbin might get possessive or jealous about Inseong choosing to lie down with him. He rushed to correct Jaeyoon's assumption of his discomfort.

"Actually, Inseong and I, we--"

Cutting off Youngbin's explanation with a hand on Youngbin's shoulder, Jaeyoon added, "I want to cuddle with your stuffed animals. Is that okay?"

"That's more than okay," Youngbin said, and was glad that there was something he could do for Jaeyoon after all: giving Jaeyoon his pick of soft toys for comfort.

Youngbin's collection of stuffed animals was like a mini-zoo beside his bed. There was even a chubby hamster that resembled Inseong, but unlike the real Inseong, the stuffed hamster was too small for anyone to squish into their chest to release stress.

As Youngbin climbed into Jaeyoon's bed, and Jaeyoon into his, Jaeyoon yawned and said, "Night, hyung. You won't feel lonely with the biggest stuffed toy next to you."

Said stuffed toy rolled over, drew Youngbin closer to him from behind and put his lips to Youngbin's hair, keeping Youngbin warm and safe in his arms. 


	5. Fall In Love

The end of the goodbye stage for the group's latest promotion period brought tears to Juho. Not tears of sorrow as Juho had no reason to shed a single one ever since the doctor gave his approval for him to continue promoting with the group. What were squeezed from the corners of his eyes were tears of joy; tears from laughing at watching Seokwoo kiss a red rose like he just stepped out of a manhwa.

He was laughing so hard that his hands shook and luckily, his hyung was there to take out of his hand the tablet on which he was watching the stage. Inseong had been keeping Juho company for the last hour, having dropped by Juho's studio to check that Juho was well-fed and wasn't working too hard on his songs. The pizza and beer that Inseong had brought were almost finished, making them both full and more than a little drunk.

Juho snorted, rolled around on the floor and banged his fist down. He was influenced by the alchohol and his excitement over his upcoming meeting with his members, after which he'd be able to once again witness their embarrassing moments up close and in person instead of watching them from afar.

Because his companion was Inseong, he didn't have to restrain himself. He didn't have to explain anything for Inseong to understand.

Inseong was holding in his own laughter as he tapped on Juho's tablet and said, "If you think that's funny, watch this."

He showed Juho another video of Youngbin betting with himself that Seokwoo wouldn't be able to deliver the cheesy fanservice with the rose, then losing the bet with himself and admitting on SNS that yes, he was a fool.

The roars of laughter started up again, this time with Inseong laughing too. Inseong laughed with Juho until his face turned red and he was running out of breath, pausing to say, "Oh boy, we're getting wasted."

Soon, Juho was out of energy. He lied down to drop his head in Inseong's lap, feeling much lighter than before. He shut his eyes for a moment, searching for any trace of guilt inside him over taking a hiatus and neglecting his health to the point that pushing himself would make him more of a burden than a reliable teammate. Most of it was in the past, a problem overcame with time and the healing of Juho's injury.

The little bit of guilt that remained seemed caught in his throat as Juho swallowed and said, "Now our group knows what it's like to go through promotions without a member. It might happen again. It's inevitable for every group, and I didn't realise I had hoped we will be different, until I..."

"Yeah, it might happen again. But there's nothing to be afraid of." Squeezing around Juho's shoulder, Inseong continued, "You know what Youngbin said at the start of our latest promotion? That we've grown a little more and become more like a mature group. And when Juho returns, we can then be more grown up together. Injuries are a normal part of a group's journey, but so are wins."

Juho took all that in, absorbing their leader's positive spin on their misfortune.

"Youngbin-hyung really said that?" He asked.

"Yeah. He didn't want anyone to feel that your injury has marked a bad beginning for our promotion."

Juho didn't ask for more comforting, but Inseong went ahead to stroke his hair. Next week, after he moved his new cat to his studio, he was going to copy Inseong in using his hands to shower Huru with his love.

"Hyung," Juho said. "What you shared was just the inspirational highlight of Youngbin-hyung's nagging, wasn't it?"

"You got me. A promotion period wouldn't be complete without Youngbin's nagging."

"I'd be worried if you've fallen for hyung's nagging too," Juho replied, prolonging their heart-to-heart into the night. 


	6. The Beat Goes On

Seeing the dreams of those near and dear to him come true right before his eyes was not something Inseong got to experience every day. The name of the first place winner of this week's The Show that the MCs announced wasn't his group, but he would never forget this moment and this night.

From the back of the stage, he and his members had peeked through the crowd of performers and silently supported their N.Flying seniors standing in front with the other first place nominees. Being up there was both an honour and a form of torture as nominees would go home with either a trophy or a sense of acceptance that they'd have to wait a little longer for their win. Unlike for ISAC, second or third place winners of music shows weren't given anything to show that they've improved since the last time they tried to capture the hearts of the audience out there.

Even Inseong, who didn't think he was very competitive, found it hard to say that being nominated was good enough. What he liked to tell himself was that whether they won or not, he would still do his best anyway and would not stop just because life had yet to deliver the best outcome. Just when he thought he had recovered from losing, it seemed that he had not managed to hide all of his disappointment as Youngbin would come up to him, take his hand and say, "You've done really well, you know that?"

Anyone might throw themselves down a spiral of self-doubt--or worse, self-hatred--if no one told them that they had done well.

Once the scores were totaled and the MCs congratulated N.Flying, confetti exploded all over the stage, raining silver on Inseong's seniors that buried their dread over having to try again to reach for their first win next time. Next time, they'd be striving for their second win, then their third, fourth and so on.

Inseong and his members were the last group to stay on stage with their seniors, which was fitting as they had spent the longest time watching their seniors' struggle. Even if they were from the same company, there must still be tons of hardship since N.Flying's debut that only the members of the band knew about. It all built up over four years of hard work, eventually released in the torrent of tears erupting from within Jaehyun.

As Jaehyun clung to Seokwoo, he remained overwhelmed with the reality of winning. Inseong alternated between patting Jaehyun's back and watching the other N.Flying members sing their winning song to the crowd. When the time came for a music show MC to announce 'SF9, congratulations', who'd be unable to control themselves and cry? How would Inseong's members survive the high of victory that would be a thousand times more than what they had felt at the end of their survival show, back before debut and trying to make it in the industry?

The possibility both thrilled and scared Inseong. While he waited with the others for their manager to bring their car around, he tried not to think too much about what their win would be like, then did it anyway. He noticed Youngbin coming closer to him and stealing glances at his face as if he had set off Youngbin's leader sensors.

"Hey," Inseong said, taking Youngbin's hand, "You did really well today. And do you also know that you're very handsome, very sexy and very loveable?"

"That's kind of random," Youngbin replied, and though he wasn't sure where Inseong's compliments came from, he gave Inseong a little smile.

Without letting go of Inseong's hand, he took a step away to swing their linked arms.

"Why does it feel like we've won today?" Youngbin asked. "Of all days, I feel like we were given a preview of what winning for real would be like."

"Yeah, me too."

Inseong believed that in travelling together with their seniors on a journey to become the best artists they could be, they were on the right track to finding their way to where they want to be. They'd be there soon. Inseong squeezed around Youngbin's fingers, recharging his strength to pull Youngbin and the others onward by the hand.

**Author's Note:**

> We've finally reached 2019 in this series! Links to some references in this part:
> 
> -[Youngbin's mukbang](http://vlive.tv/video/132485) in which he bought too much food and called Inseong to talk about how much they like each other :)
> 
> -A [ letter from little Inseong to his mom about ski camp](https://twitter.com/rvnkna/status/1164478772394909696). 
> 
> -The last three chapters are inspired by Inseong saying that he and Youngbin takes care of the other members as the mom and dad of the group in this [Billboard interview with Jeff Benjamin](https://twitter.com/guava_otp93/status/1232674176940429314). 
> 
> -In a shot of the big dorm from this episode of [The Hungry](https://twitter.com/Fantasy_Subs9/status/1118567858194141184), we can see Youngbin's stuffed animals collection. 
> 
> -The [Show Champion clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKk1O0POIB8) in which Youngbin made a bet with himself about Seokwoo. 
> 
> -[N.Flying's first win](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixjBz-PMrrI) in which SF9 stayed with their seniors on stage.


End file.
